My Friends!
by As the cherry blossom falls
Summary: When Trance meets a fellow being like herself, the girl doesn't even know how special she is. The girl's memory has been wiped so Trance takes it upon herself to teach her.
1. Chapter One

CHAPTER ONE  
  
"Wow! There's sooo much to do!" said Trance as she looked at the busy city centre.  
  
The whole crew had been given a day off while the Andromeda was having some external repairs done. And Trance had every right to be excited, this time they had all been given complimentary passes to the planet that this particular habitat was orbiting.  
  
"This place is so cool!" enthused Trance. Again.  
  
Even Harper had to admit he was excited, this planet was famous for its reputation of having fun. There had never even been a war on this planet, everyone was just so darn nice to each other!  
  
Trance tugged at Harper's arm like a little kid, "I want to see everything! Can we see the museum of plant biology first? Oh please oh please oh pleeease!" She whined.  
  
Harper, on the other hand, had different ideas on how he would spend the day.  
  
"I don't want to go to some stupid plant museum. I want to see the exhibition on new persied inventions in the Aerospace museum, and it's in a completely different area of the city. And after that I want to go to the amusement park, you know how you hate those white-knuckle rides. So why don't we split up and I'll meet you back at Andromeda?"  
  
He turned to look at her, and saw worry splashed all over her face. Poor thing was scared!  
  
Holding her shoulders, he told her in his best protective guy voice, "You'll be fine! There has never, ever been any crime on this planet, and at the moment we are the only foreigners on this planet. You'll be fine!" And with a quick hug he turned around and walked off in the direction of the aerospace museum, stopping only to give her a quick wave, before disappearing into the crowd.  
  
She took a deep breath. And then another. Just one more to be sure. There, now Trance felt like she was brave enough to explore on her own. It was just she had always had Harper, Beka, or Rommie beside her when she was on new planets and stuff! Now it was just her again.  
  
The last time she had been alone was when she first arrived at a Polyniekes when she was a teenager. No-one turned up to meet her, and she spent two weeks on the streets before she met Chloe. She and Chloe had set up a 'business' whereby Trance would 'find' a certain object for people for a fee. Since then she had always had someone beside her. But now she was an adult. Albeit a purple one, with a tail.  
  
Looking at her surroundings she saw a market square just down the street. There were hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of things. Then she saw them. She gasped.  
  
"Bags! Lots and lots of Bag!!" She squealed while running towards the bag stall.  
  
She was running so fast though that she didn't see the girl before it was too late. She ran full on into her, flying into the air before hitting the ground, knees first.  
  
"OWWWW!" she cried out, feeling the sharp, stinging pain in her knees.  
  
"Are you ok?" asked the girl, when all of a sudden Trance felt the familiar touch of a tail on her shoulder. This tail didn't belong to her though.  
  
This tail was blue! 


	2. Chapter Two

CHAPTER TWO  
  
"Hey lady, I asked if...you...were....." she trailed off as she saw Trance's tail.  
  
"You have a tail too?" the girl asked.  
  
Trance got up and turned round to look at the girl. She gasped at what she saw before her. So did the girl, and they had good reason to. They both had the same facial features, same pointy ears. Of course there were a couple of differences, like the girl was a few inches smaller than Trance and that she was blue as opposed to purple.  
  
They were the same species. Trance hadn't seen anyone like herself for... well, a long time.  
  
She was ecstatic to finally meet a fellow being that she started babbling away.  
  
"Oh my God! It's sooo great to meet you! I can't wait to have a good chat with you. You know, it's been so long since I've seen a person like us! Oh, wait till I tell everyone about this! It's gonna be so fun talking to you!" She paused for air when she saw that the look on the girls face. Her jaw looked like it was about to hit the floor and her eyes were so wide as if they were about to pop out of her head.  
  
"Y...y...you're just like ....me! Oh...my...god. Where did you come from?" Asked the girl with urgency. Then she grabbed Trances arms and looked up at her with such intensity.  
  
"Can you tell me where I come from?" she pleaded.  
  
Trance was shocked. "Do you not know what you are?"  
  
"NO! That's why I'm asking you!!" Shouted the girl, letting go of Trance. She looked at Trance, pleading for an answer with her eyes.  
  
Oh my, thought Trance. This is bad. She looked around at the crowd that was milling around them, none of them noticing the life-changing situation happening right in front of them. No, they couldn't talk here, not with all these people around them.  
  
"Do you have somewhere private we could talk?"  
  
"Yes! This way." Said the girl, grabbing Trance once more and dragging her through the crowd until they reached an apartment building.  
  
As they stood in the elevator, neither girl talked, both nervous about the situation they knew was coming.  
  
On the 12th floor they got out and turned left. At apartment 12c the girl stopped and put her hand on the screen beside the door.  
  
"Unlock code?" asked a mechanical voice. "Three two strike alpha zeta strike." Said the girl and instantly the door opened. The girl stood back and motioned for Trance to enter the room. Once inside, Trance sat on the pretty sofa at the far end of the room.  
  
Not wasting any time, the girl sat down beside her and bombarded her with questions "So where do I come from? Please! Tell me!"  
  
Trance lent back in surprise, "Woah there! Just wait a second! Tell me exactly what you know about yourself and then I'll fill in the blanks as best as I can."  
  
"Well, I've been on this planet for twenty years but physically I've aged about two years, which freaks me out no end, and I don't remember anything before that. I remember waking up in this apartment twenty years ago. The funny thing is, I knew where I was. I knew everything about this apartment, including my unlock code. I just don't know anything about my life before that day. I have no medical records because no doctor can detect my life- signs. I don't have any birth certificates or any records of my existence at all. I basically don't exist! I've tried looking for people like me but there are no records of my species. And then you turned up."  
  
She stopped talking and looked at Trance, eager for an answer.  
  
"Well," said Trance "we are a very old and special race. Our race has existed since the start of time. We basically are ....well...stars! We are avatars of suns. So there are millions upon millions of us. Don't get me wrong, we aren't machines, we're definitly organic beings. We exist as, I suppose, universe gardeners!" She giggled before noticing that the girl wasn't laughing.  
  
"Well, we look after our solar systems. Making sure the planets don't destroy each other, stuff like that. All to create the perfect possible future. I take it you can sometimes see the future?"  
  
The girl leant so far towards her she was nearly in her lap. "Yes! I thought I was crazy at first but then my visions came true! Though, they don't come regularly. My last vision was a year ago. They only come when I'm really stressed or when something bad is about to happen. Wow...this is so amazing! But what about my life before? And which star am I an avatar of?"  
  
"I'm afraid I don't know. But why don't you tell me your name. We haven't really introduced ourselves."  
  
"Well, even though I remembered things about my environment, I couldn't even remember my own name. So I picked one out for myself. I'm Guinevere Le Fay."  
  
"Oh that's so pretty!" exclaimed Trance "That's from the King Arthur stories of old earth isn't it? My name is Trance Gemini." She held out her hand.  
  
Taking the outstretched hand, Guinevere shook it, a smile finally forming on her pretty face. "You're absolutely correct. I read the story of King Arthur in the library here. I was captivated by the story so I decided to pick my name from it." She sighed.  
  
"Now what do we do? I want to learn more about who I am. Are you staying here long?"  
  
Trance felt so bad, but then had a brilliant idea. A smile slowly took to her lips.  
  
"I'm only here for today and then I'm going back to ship I live on. See I live on the Andromeda..."  
  
She was cut off suddenly by Guinevere's surprised gasp," Oh my god! You're part of the Andromeda's crew? I've heard so much about Dylan Hunt and the Andromeda. But I've never learnt of the crew's names! I just know of Dylan Hunt's plight to restore the commonwealth, everybody does! Oh wow!" Guinevere looked like he was about to bounce out of her seat with excitement.  
  
Once again, Trance gave a big, beaming smile. "Well then, I have a proposition for you. How about you come to stay on the Andromeda for a while and I'll teach you all about our past. What do you say?" She looked at Guinevere. Guinevere looked at her with her mouth open, before squealing in excitement and hugging Trance so tightly that she nearly couldn't breath.  
  
"I take it that means yes then?!?!" She said in a strangled voice while being squeezed to death. 


	3. Chapter Three

CHAPTER THREE  
  
When they got to the space-port, Harper was ready and waiting. He was sitting reading a flexi-mag about engineering and was so engrossed he didn't notice Trance come up to him.  
  
"Hey Blondie!" said Trance, popping her head round Harper's shoulder, scaring the living daylights out of him.  
  
"For FREAKS sake Trance. How many times have I told you not to sneak up like that!" He was not happy at all.  
  
Trance giggled to herself. She was always playing jokes on him.  
  
"Don't be grumpy now. Remember, you're a incredibly handsome genius. Ahead of your time even!" She joked.  
  
Harper smiled to himself and puffed himself out, "Yeah, I am, aren't I! Big, Freakin' genius! Ready to go then?" he said as he picked up his shopping bags.  
  
"Yep! Though I have someone for you to meet." She stood aside to reveal Guinevere standing behind her. Guinevere gave a nervous giggle and a little wave.  
  
He was gobsmacked. "Wow Trance! Is she the same as you, Trance?" he asked as he saw her tail swishing behind her.  
  
"Yep!! She's coming to stay with us for a while, so make her feel welcome." She said, playfully hitting him on the shoulder.  
  
"Did Dylan say that was ok then?" he asked looking back at Trance. He didn't want to get into trouble again because of her.  
  
"Of course silly! She'll be like an exchange student. Now don't be rude, introduce yourself." She pushed him towards Guinevere, and suddenly Harper realised how pretty she was.  
  
He put one hand in his hair and stuck the other out in front of him, "Uh, hi! I'm Seamus Zelazny Harper. But just call me Harper!"  
  
Guinevere took his hand and gave it a gentle shake, "Nice to meet you Harper. I'm Guinevere Le Fay. Shouldn't we get going and catch our flight, before it leaves without us!" She pointed to the Flight board, indicating that it was the last boarding call for their flight.  
  
"SHIT!!" cried Harper, grabbing his bags and the girls, before running towards their gate.  
  
"Is he always like this?" Guinevere asked Trance.  
  
Trance gave a little amused smile, "Yes, all the time. But you get used to it."  
  
arHH 


	4. Chapter Four

CHAPTER FOUR  
  
When they walked into the Andromeda, Dylan, Rommie and Beka were there to meet their new guest.  
  
The first to speak was Dylan, of course. He stepped forward and gave a slight bow.  
  
"It's a pleasure to have you on-board Miss Le Fay. I hope you'll enjoy your time with us. If you'll excuse me, I have to go sort some business out. Rommie and Beka here will help make you feel welcome." When he finished he turned and walked down the corridor to go do his business stuff."  
  
"Don't mind him. He's a workaholic. I'm Beka and this is Rommie. It's really nice to have you on board. I love meeting new people."  
  
Harper laughed out loud but was abruptly cut off by Beka's elbow in his side.  
  
"Ow" he said almost inaudibly, rubbing his sore ribs.  
  
Trance knew why he had laughed. Beka wasn't the sort who welcomed strangers with open arms. She had obviously been given orders by Dylan to be nice to the new girl.  
  
"It's nice meeting you all too. I'm gonna have so much fun here. I've heard all the stories! Life on the Andromeda sounds so.... Exciting!" And proving how excited she was, her tail started swishing behind her back.  
  
Trance felt it was time to show Guinevere her quarters, so she bid her crew- mates goodnight and led Guinevere down the corridor.  
  
Guinevere looked like a kid in a candy store, marvelling at her surroundings. When they reached the guest quarters, Trance showed her how to use everything and how to install privacy mode.  
  
"Well, that's everything so I guess I'll let you get some sleep then Guinevere."  
  
"Please, call me Gwinny. That's what my friends call me." She looked at Trance then gave her a quick hug. "Thank you."  
  
"No probs. Night night then Gwinny." And she left, leaving Gwinny to sleep. 


	5. Chapter Five

CHAPTER FIVE  
  
As she opened her eyes, the familiar ceiling of her quarters came into focus. Trance sighed happily to herself and rolled onto her side. She hadn't slept for long, about 3 hours, she just didn't ever need that much sleep. Just as well, she thought, this ship is always getting into trouble and trouble didn't wait until you had a full nights sleep.  
  
Anyway, she thought as she looked at her clock, it was time to get up and wake the new girl! She jumped straight out of bed, and after spending half an hour in the bathroom, put on her favourite blue velvet cat-suit and left her quarters.  
  
Walking down the corridor she realised that most of the crew were still in bed. They were only humans after all, except for Tyr although you could sort of call him a half human but that didn't matter at the moment.  
  
On her way to Guinevere's quarter's, she passed the machine hop and decided to peek in. She giggled as she saw Harper fast asleep at one of his tables, using his newest invention as a pillow and with a sparky in his hand. Resisting the urge to wake him up, she kept on down the corridors and came to the guest quarters.  
  
She knocked on the door first but no-one answered, so she over-rode the unlocking system and let herself in.  
  
There was no-one there. Funny, she thought and decided to look in the bathroom. She wasn't there either. Trance was starting to worry now. What on earth had happened to Guinevere?  
  
Suddenly someone grabbed her shoulder. Trance screamed and jumped a mile.  
  
"Hi Trance!" said the shoulder grabber. Trance turned round and saw it was only Guinevere. Her heart was beating a mile a minute.  
  
"Did I scare you? Oh I'm sorry! I woke up about an hour ago and I was just exploring. Rommie said it was ok. Did I do something wrong?" Guinevere clasped her hands to her chest and looked guiltily to the floor. Immediately, Trance felt so stupid and guilty at making Guinevere feel bad.  
  
She put her arm round Guinevere's shoulders, "Don't worry. You didn't do anything wrong. I was just worried when I didn't find you here, but not to bother. Now, I think it's time we went and got some breakfast, don't you?"  
  
Guinvere looked up at Trance and gave a vigourous nod, "Yep! I'm sooo hungry!"  
  
"Well let's go then!" said Trance and led the way to the officer's mess.  
  
When they got there, they were the only one's there. Trance looked at the console on the wall and saw it was 7:30am. Not long till everyone's awake, Trance thought and to speak of the devil, Harper walked in looking none the better for his nights sleep in the machine shop. "Ugh," he said, "I feel like I just got run over by Andromeda." He walked over to where the girls were sitting and plonked himself down beside Trance.  
  
Trance giggled, "Spent another night in the machine shop?" she said with a knowing look.  
  
"Yeah, wanted to finish my new and improved nano-welder. Fell asleep straight after though." He rubbed a bump on his forehead, proving that he had infact fallen straight to sleep.  
  
"How many times have I told you not to sleep in the machine shop." Trance scolded, "And I found that cot you tried to hide in the cupboard." She added, crossing her arms for emphasis.  
  
Harper looked sheepish but then changed the subject.  
  
"I had the weirdest dream last night. It was really freaky, felt so real. I was in the machine shop, working on my nano-welder, when the door opened and this beautiful woman walked in. The funny thing is I have no idea what she looks like, I just remember that she was incredibly beautiful. Then, I was back on earth during the magogg attacks. I had just seen my cousins being infested and the beautiful woman came up and stood beside me. I was crying my eyes out and she just took me into her arms and sang to me. I felt better instantly and after that I don't remember what happened. Then I woke up a couple of minutes ago. Weird huh!" the second he finished, he spotted the croissant on Trance's plate and snatched it up.  
  
"HEY!" Trance shouted at him.  
  
"Oh. Were you eating that?" he looked at her as if butter wouldn't melt in his mouth.  
  
She gave him a fair whack round the head, "Yes dumb-ass! Argh!"  
  
She was so annoyed, until she heard Gwin giggling at the performance taking place before her eyes. Trance had to laugh. Harper and her were always fighting like this. They didn't mean anything by it. They were best friends after all, though sometimes she felt like there could be more between them. Just not at the moment.  
  
"Sorry Gwin! We're always fighting."  
  
"Don't worry about! It's actually quite fun to watch." Gwin smiled at Trance and then gave an even bigger smile to Harper, "You're really funny Harper!"  
  
For a second his face registered shock, but he regained his composure and started making jokes again.  
  
"See Trance! Someone appreciates my amazing comedic talent. You just don't know genius when you see it. ARGH!" he screamed as a croissant came flying at his head, by way of Trance.  
  
He chose that moment to exit the Mess and come back when it was safe. Gwin was laughing even harder now.  
  
"I just know I'm gonna have a great time here!" 


	6. Chapter Six

Just realised that I haven't been saying "I don't own Andromeda." So I better say it.  
  
I don't own Andromeda.  
  
Though I could buy a model of the Andromeda and then I could say I own the Andromeda.  
  
Lame joke...I know...let me have this one.  
  
CHAPTER SIX  
  
It was mid-afternoon when Trance finished her first lesson of her people's culture. It had been quite basic really, just more information on what exactly they were.  
  
Both Trance and Gwin were exhausted by the crash course in sun avatars, that Trance thought it best if they had a break for a couple of hours.  
  
"Feel free to have a walk around the ship. Just ask Andromeda if you need any help."  
  
"Thanks again Trance, for doing this for me. I'm finally learning about my past and it's all because of you. Thank you!" Then she walked out of Hydroponics.  
  
"Phew!" That had been hard work, thought Trance. But funnily enough, she had enjoyed every moment of it. Gwin asked so many questions so it was always a challenge to come up with an answer.  
  
"Hey you. Been looking for you." Said Harper from the doorway, "You want to get something to eat? I'm really hungry."  
  
"Yep. Nothing left to do here." Trance walked with Harper down the hallways to the Mess. "So, what's happening with you at the moment then?"  
  
"Well I had another weird dream last night. It was the same as last time, I can't remember what she looks like. I'm just overwhelmed by her beauty though. Though this time she was stroking my head. These dreams are pretty freaky, they seem so real!" he looked at Trance, and she could he was really shaken by these dreams.  
  
She was about to say something to comfort him, when suddenly the ship was shaken by an explosion.  
  
"Everyone to Command!" they heard Dylan shout over the ship-wide communications.  
  
They were the last to arrive at command. Both of them ran to their posts.  
  
"What happened?" Trance asked Dylan.  
  
"Well, looks like someone doesn't like us!"  
  
"Like most days then." Quipped Harper .  
  
"We're being hailed Captain." Said Rommie, looking at Dylan for his answer.  
  
"On screen."  
  
An image of a woman appeared on the screen, "Captain Hunt, I'm Captain Destiny Potter. You have three people on your ship that are wanted in this galaxy for their crimes. I have been ordered to bring in ..." She presses a few buttons and on screen there are images of three people "Trance Gemini, Seamus Harper and Beka Valentine. Hand them over!" she ended forcefully.  
  
Dylan looked over his shoulder at his crew-mates and then back at the screen.  
  
"Well, I'm afraid I just can't do that." He mocked.  
  
Captain Potter's face went red with anger, "If you don't hand them over NOW I'll have to..." she stopped in mid sentence, looking like she had forgotten what to say.  
  
As quickly as it had happened, the look was gone, "I'm afraid I have the wrong ship, sorry that I disturbed you." And with that the screen blinked to black.  
  
The crew were confused. Everyone stared at each other, looking for answers but all anyone could do was shrug. Beka was the first to speak.  
  
"But...she had the right ship. I'm confused."  
  
"As am I. But I suggest we high tail it out of this system. I highly doubt we'll be as lucky next time." Tyr helpfully suggested from his station.  
  
"I agree. Andromeda, lets get out of here." Dylan asked the ship. 


	7. Chapter Seven

I don't own Andromeda, seriously, I don't! Oh you must have me confused with Gene Roddenberry. I often get confused with dead people. Yeah. Well. On with the story.  
  
CHAPTER SEVEN  
  
As Andromeda sped away out of the system, Gwin walked into Command.  
  
"What happened?" she asked Trance.  
  
Trance looked up from her console and smiled comfortingly to Gwin, "It's nothing to worry about now. Just a little run in with the locals."  
  
Gwin didn't look like she was convinced, but she went along with it anyway.  
  
"Oh, okay then. I'm kinda done with my exploring now, so is there anything I can do here?"  
  
Trance started to say the Gwin shouldn't bother, when Dylan interrupted her.  
  
"Well, you can help Harper with his repairs if you like?"  
  
Gwin' face lit up in an instant and she skipped over to where Harper was working. She knelt down and said something to him, which made him laugh. He handed her a nano-welder and they both set about repair the ship.  
  
Trance was speechless. Dylan had never acted like that before. He usually never let guest's help where the hip was concerned. And Harper was just allowing her to tamper with his work. When Trance tried to help Harper, he snapped and told her to leave his work alone. So why was he different with Gwin?  
  
Something was niggling Trance but she didn't know what. It's probably nothing, she thought, and turned back to her work. But every few minutes she felt the urge to glance over to where Harper and Gwin were working. They acted like they had been friends forever, laughing, chatting and the occasional brushes of their hands made her skin crawl.  
  
She didn't know what was making her feel like this.  
  
Yes you do, said her conscience, Harper is your friend, best friend, and you don't like him treating Gwin like he usually treats you.  
  
No! She wasn't jealous! That was a stupid idea. "HA!" She laughed out loud without even realising it.  
  
Everyone in the room turned to look at her, confused expressions on their faces.  
  
"Something funny about the Environmental systems Trance?" asked Dylan.  
  
Trance realised her blunder and covered it up quickly.  
  
"Nope! Just thinking about a funny dream I had. I'm done here Dylan, I'm jut going to go to Hydroponics." She said calmly then walked out of Command.  
  
Harper looked at Gwin crouching beside him. "Wonder what's eating at her?". He was the only one close enough to Trance to understand these subtle change in her mood.  
  
For a moment he saw Gwin look at the door Trance had just used, with darkness in her eyes. But it was gone in an instant. She turned to face him and smiled.  
  
"Maybe she's just tired from all the questions I've been asking her." She looked back at the wires in the machine in front of her, "So this wire does what? Do I cut it?"  
  
Harper instantly forgot what had gone before and grabbed Gwin's hand away from the wire she had been about to cut.  
  
"You don't want to cut that wire, that would cause the slip-stream drive to over heat and explode."  
  
Gwin put her hand to her mouth and giggled. "Oh whoopsie!"  
  
"Where am I" Trance said to herself. The landscape around her was  
unfamiliar. It looked like a post-apocalyptic wasteland, burnt-out houses  
were everywhere and fires were springing up all over the place. There  
didn't seem to be anybody around.  
  
"ARRGGGGHHHHH! NOOOOOOO! PLEASE GOD NOOOO!"  
  
She heard screams from behind her. She whipped round and saw a cave, with  
light emanating from within. Following her instinct, she ran into it,  
knowing that whatever was happening in there was very bad.  
  
She rounded a corner and saw two Magogg infesting two children. The child  
that was screaming was flattened against the wall of the cave in fear.  
The child looked awfully familiar...  
  
"DECLAN! SIABOHN! I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry! Oh God I'm so sorry!" He  
started weeping and fell to the ground.  
  
Of course! This child was Harper. This must have been when he saw his  
cousins being infested. She felt an overwhelming feeling to go and  
comfort him.  
  
However, when she tried to move towards him, nothing happened. She  
couldn't move! Out of the corner of her eye she saw a figure. The figure  
was walking into the cave and towards Harper. She couldn't see what the  
figure looked like because of the hooded cloak it was wearing. She tried  
to shout to Harper but she couldn't make a sound. The only thing she  
could do was watch.  
  
The figure stopped beside Harper and reached out a hand. Harper looked up  
and stopped crying, he took the figure's hand and stood up. The figure  
then pulled him towards them and started stroking his hair. Harper didn't  
stop the person and just put his head on their chest.  
  
Trance felt herself being pulled out of the cave, out of this dream, and  
tried to shout one last time.  
  
"SEAMUS!" she managed to shout.  
  
Harper snapped his head up and looked straight at her for a second before  
the image faded to black.  
  
Trance sat up straight up as a bolt in her bed. Her heart was pounding.  
That was such a strange dream, she thought.  
  
No, it wasn't her dream, it was Harper's. She had no idea why she had  
been in his dream but she had to see if the same had happened to him.  
  
He ripped back her bedclothes and ran down the corridor to Harper's  
quarters. Her nightgown flew behind her as she ran as fast as she could.  
When she got there, she blew a gold mist into her hand and threw it at  
the door controls. The door opened immediately and she ran in. She ran to  
Harper, who was still sleeping, and knelt beside his bed. He was writhing  
about as if he was having a bad dream, so Trance put blew the mist into  
her hand again, and placed her hand on his forehead.  
  
Harper immediately calmed down and slowly opened his eyes.  
  
"Wha...? Ugh...huh? Trance? Is that you?" He reached for her face and touched  
her cheek with one finger.  
  
"Shhhhh, it's me. It's okay now, you're awake." She took his hand and  
started stroking it.  
  
Harper was silent for a moment, when he sat up suddenly.  
  
"Trance! I dreamt you! You called out to me. It all seemed so real. And  
that woman was there again."  
  
"And you saw your cousins being infested, didn't you?" Trance asked  
  
He slowly looked up into Trance's eyes with disbelief, "How did you  
know?"  
  
"Because I dreamt it too, but Harper, that woman is dangerous. I could  
tell she didn't want me there. She stopped me from coming to help you."  
She felt a tear slip from her eye, but didn't make a move to wipe it  
away, "I wanted to so much, Harper. It hurt so much to see you so upset  
and to not be able to help you."  
  
Now it was Harper's turn to comfort Trance, he wiped the tears from her  
face and took her hand.  
  
"Shhh Shhhh. Don't worry. It was just a dream. Nothing to worry about  
now." He put his arms round her and held her till she stopped crying.  
  
"All better now?" he asked her, holding her at arm's length.  
  
She nodded.  
  
"Prove it."  
  
She giggled and smiled at his silliness.  
  
"That's my girl!" he beamed back at her and let go of her shoulders.  
  
Trance suddenly felt awkward and decided it was time to leave.  
  
"I'll just go back to my quarter's. I'm feeling better now." She stood up  
to go.  
  
Harper looked at her as if to ay that he didn't believe her.  
  
"Are you sure? You could sleep in here tonight if you want?"  
  
She backed up to the door, "No, no. I'm fine! Really!" she said as she  
opened the door.  
  
"Night." She said before turning down the corridor. The door swished  
closed.  
  
Confusing girl, he thought before flopping back down on the bed to go to  
sleep. 


	8. Chapter Eight

You probably get by now that I don't particularly like Tyr. He just strikes me as the boring guy who leans on things, excessively. But I do like him when he get all emotional. Juicy!  
  
I do not own Andromeda. I wonder what would happen if some fanfiction writer said they did own it. Would they be sued? I don't know. But I'm not gonna try it.  
  
CHAPTER EIGHT  
  
It was the morning after and Trance was very tired. She hadn't slept a wink when she got back to her room. She had lain awake until her alarm buzzed at six o'clock. She got up as usual and did everything that she usually did every morning. She wanted today to feel like every other day.  
  
It wasn't working.  
  
She sighed to herself. It wasn't working because it wasn't your typical day. Something strange had happened last night, and she meant to get to the bottom of it.  
  
She spent the first few hours of the morning tending to her plants. Looking after her plants helped her to think. At Ten am she decided to go and talk to Harper about last night. She had a couple of hours before her lesson with Gwin, so she had plenty of time.  
  
Though when she got to the machine shop, she didn't expect to find Gwin there too.  
  
Gwin looked up first and gave her a beaming smile and a wave.  
  
"Hi Trance! Harper's just teaching me some things about mechanics! I'm having the best time."  
  
Trance smiled weakly and gave a little wave before walking over to Harper.  
  
"We need to talk." She whispered to him.  
  
He looked up at her blankly, "About what?"  
  
Trance was surprised, "About last night, of course."  
  
"What happened last night?" he smiled his wonky smile at her and waited for an answer.  
  
This wasn't happening, she thought. "Don't you remember your dream?"  
  
He scanned his memory for a couple of seconds, "Nope! Mustn't have been that interesting if I can't remember it. Now if you don't mind Trance, I'm trying to work with Gwin here. I think we'd both appreciate the peace." Then he started to work on his project again.  
  
She couldn't move, this was absurd! How could he forget what had happened last night? This was crazy!!  
  
She started to back out the door, "Oh Trance? Are we still on for our lesson later?" asked Gwin, waving her nano-welder about, cheery as ever.  
  
Trance wasn't concentrating, she was so messed up at the moment. "Huh? Yeah, suppose so." She muttered, still staring at Harper, before running out of the room.  
  
Gwin just shrugged to herself and carried on working. 


	9. Chapter Nine

I do not own Andromeda. Though my cat is one of the writing staff.  
  
CHAPTER NINE  
  
Trance was in hydroponics when Gwin arrived for her lesson a couple of hours later. She had spent those hours trying to think of reasons why Harper would just snub her like that.  
  
Gwin sauntered in and sat in one of the foam seats in the corner.  
  
"Hi! I'm ready to learn!" she chirped.  
  
But Trance wasn't really concentrating. After a few seconds she realised the Gwin was there. She decided that she might as well teach Gwin this afternoon, it would keep her mind off Harper for a few hours at least.  
  
"So what will I learn today?" Gwin asked eagerly.  
  
Trance realised that she hadn't really thought about or prepared anything.  
  
"Oh, um...." She improvised, "... well, what would you like to learn?"  
  
Gwin's smile grew even bigger, "Oooooo!!! I'd love to hear how you met all of your crew-mates!"  
  
Trance blinked in surprise. "Really?"  
  
"Yeah! I want to hear about 'your' life here!" Gwin leaned forward in earnest.  
  
This is weird, thought Trance, though at least it'll be easy to talk about.  
  
"Well," she started, "you already know how I met Dylan and Andromeda, so I guess I'll tell you about how Beka recruited me."  
  
Gwin nodded in encouragement.  
  
"Well, I was living on the streets when Rev Bem found me, you haven't met him, he's a Wayist. Well he took me under his wing and brought me back to the Maru. He was already part of the crew see. So was Harper. Well anyway, Beka asked me to prove if I was worthy enough to be in their crew so I 'found' some cargo that they needed to deliver to a client..."  
  
"Found?" asked Gwin.  
  
"Okay, stole then." Admitted Trance. "Well anyway, needles to say, she was pleased with me and I spent six months with them before we got the job to pull the Andromeda out of the black hole. And then the rest you already know."  
  
"Cool!" exclaimed Gwin, "So tell me what Harper was like!"  
  
Trance smiled slightly. "Well, pretty much the same as now." Something was a bit strange here.  
  
Gwin stood up, taking Trance by surprise.  
  
"Well, I'm going to go get lunch now then."  
  
"Oh okay." Trance felt stupid. What was making her feel so tense.  
  
"I'll see you there in a few minutes then." She said, turning around to feed her bonsai tree.  
  
"Or not." She heard, before the door closed and a strange gas filled the room.  
  
"BITCH!" Trance spat, before the world faded away. 


	10. Chapter Ten

Well, they say it's always the quiet ones. Is it just me, or does everybody find it easier to write at about 3 in the morning? Just me then.  
  
I don't own Andromeda. I know! It's a crime!  
  
CHAPTER TEN  
  
Owwwww!  
  
Trance's head was throbbing painfully. She sat up and rubbed her head.  
  
"What happened?" She said to herself, when it all came flooding back to her.  
  
Gwin had knocked her out with some strange gas. But why? She thought.  
  
"Hello there, Trance!" said a familiar, chirpy voice from the shadows.  
  
Gwin stepped out of the shadows and into the light. Trance tried to get up, but her legs wouldn't work. She couldn't make them move.  
  
She looked up at Gwin pleadingly, "Why are you doing this to me? I've been nothing but nice to you!"  
  
"You've been super nice to me! You let me into your home, introduced me to your friends and I thank you for that." Gwin plonked down on the floor cross-legged in front of Trance. She looked just like a little child, so innocent.  
  
"So why are you doing this to me then?" This is crazy, Trance thought.  
  
Gwin sat back on her hands and started chattering away.  
  
"Well, I guess I better start from the beginning. I've always known what I am..."  
  
"WHAT!" Trance gasped.  
  
A threatening look took to Gwin's eyes, "Don't! Interrupt! Me!"  
  
Trance recoiled back and Gwin continued, "As I said, I've always known what I am. My galaxy is very, very, very far from here. The people in my galaxy didn't like me, "she pouted, "so I left. Though I killed them all before I did."  
  
She's nuts! Thought Trance.  
  
"So I've spent years travelling around different worlds, looking for some people like me. But I never found anyone. Just people who were scared of me. I didn't like them. I arrived at that planet a month before you, I was planning to stay for a while, cause everyone was just so nice to me! But then you turned up, and I knew I had to keep you around. So I invented that story up so that you'd want me to stay with you. And you did! You let me come stay with you on this great ship and meet your great friends!"  
  
"And now their going to be my friends!" She sprang up and walked over to the console at the side of the room. "What are you talking about ?" Trance asked worriedly. This didn't sound very good.  
  
Gwin turned to look at Trance and gave her a big smile.  
  
"Silly Trance! If they're going to be my friends then you can't stay around!"  
  
Trance's fears were coming true. "What are you going to do to me, Gwin? Throw me out the airlock? Dylan, Harper and everyone won't let you do that."  
  
"I won't have to throw you anywhere. I'll get my friends to do that for me!!"  
  
She shouted out-loud to the ship, "Dylan? Harper? Help me! There's an intruder!"  
  
Holo-Rommie appeared in the room, "What's wrong Gwin?" she asked.  
  
Gwin pointed at Trance sitting in the corner, "That girl tried to attack me but I was able to disable her legs. She's an intruder!"  
  
Holo-Rommie turned to Trance, "Who are you?"  
  
Trance was worried, why wouldn't Andromeda recognise her?  
  
Just then, Dylan, Rommie and Tyr burst through the door. All of them pointed their weapons at her.  
  
"Who are you?" Dylan shouted at her.  
  
"I'm Trance! Don't you recognise me, Dylan?" She held her hands out to him.  
  
But still, everyone kept their weapons trained on her.  
  
Harper and Beka ran in just then. Beka also took out her Gauss gun and pointed at Trance.  
  
"What's happening? Are you ok Gwin?" Gwin ran towards Harper, tears streaming down her face. He opened his arms and held her as she cried.  
  
"Oh Harper, this girl tried to hurt me!" She weeped into his shirt.  
  
Harper looked over to Trance with a murderous look in his eyes. "Who are you?" he asked Trance.  
  
"Why do you all keep asking me that! It's me! Trance! I've been your crew- mate for over year! Why don't you remember me?" she looked desperately at each one of them, hoping to see some recognition in their faces. But there was none.  
  
"Tell the truth, 'Trance'. You are not our crew-mate, I think I would remember that. Can you get a reading on her Rommie?"  
  
"No sir, she gives off a mix of signals, I can't even place her. She's seems to be the same as Gwin. I get the same readings off her too."  
  
"Hmm." Dylan mused. "She's dangerous to the crew. Beka? Tyr? Take her to the brig. We'll have a Commonwealth ship pick her up. Harper? Take Gwin to her quarters."  
  
Tyr and Beka each grabbed Trance's arms and started dragging her out of room.  
  
"No!" She screamed. She wanted to kick out at Gwin, but she couldn't. All she could do was be dragged down the corridor to her cell. As she left she saw Harper gently leading Gwin out of the room.  
  
That bitch, she thought.  
  
Before Gwin walked in the opposite direction, she glanced at Trance and gave her a smug, evil smile before crying once again against Harper. 


	11. Chapter Eleven

Hey! This has been such a hard chapter to write, and it still isn't quite right! Grrrr! But mot of what I want is in there. Some is still in my head and refuses to come out!  
  
I don't own Andromeda, but I sure would like to have a part in it! Please? Okay, I'll stop stalking you Mr Casting Director.  
  
CHAPTER ELEVEN  
  
Trance was pacing in her cell. The drug that had disabled her legs had worn off long ago. Gwin must have injected her when she had been unconscious.  
  
Gwin was truly twisted, she thought. But why didn't anyone recognise her. They just looked at her like the past year hadn't even existed. And they had just accepted Gwin as if they had known her forever! It just didn't make sense.  
  
She knew that Gwin must have wiped Rommie's system of anything connected to her. Then Gwin must have placed fake memories of herself instead. It wouldn't have been hard for her, what with all the time she had been spending with Harper in the machine shop. She must have gotten well acquainted with the AI core.  
  
But everyone else. They had just forgotten her. There was only one explanation.  
  
Gwin must be controlling their minds.  
  
Trance knew that her people all had supernatural powers. Why, she herself had many mysterious powers. She just wasn't...that good at controlling them at the moment.  
  
She remembered the incident that happened only some hours ago, when the Captain had come looking for her and her friends. Gwin must have forced that woman into believing that she had the wrong ship. She stopped pacing the floor. That must be it, she thought. It's the only reason my friends could possibly have forgotten me. Because who on earth could forget me!  
  
The only problem now was, how would she get her friends to remember her again?  
  
She started pacing again, it helped her to think.  
  
At that moment, Harper arrived with some food for her to eat.  
  
"Here, dinner for you." He put the plate on the floor and slid it under with his foot. Then he stood back and folded his arms, watching her.  
  
Neither of them said anything for the next few seconds. Trance didn't even pick up her food. They just stared at each other.  
  
Harper was the first to speak, Trance knowing that he didn't like awkward silences.  
  
"So... how did you get on the ship?" he asked, still standing back, hands in his pockets now.  
  
Trance decided to be calm, maybe if she recalled some events that involved both of them, then maybe he would remember her.  
  
"I told you already. I'm one of your crew-members. I've been here for just over a year. And I worked with you on the Maru for a while. Gwin is the one who's the intruder!"  
  
"Pah!" scoffed Harper, "If you were my crewmate, I think I might just remember you. And Gwin I the one who joined the Maru crew and helped us retrieve the Andromeda."  
  
Damn it, thought Trance. It seemed like Gwin had implanted fake memories too. Well she'd just keep going.  
  
"What about the time Gerentex hijacked our ship and made us go find Haistori's Diary? Do you remember that?"  
  
"Yes, but Gwin was with me. Why are you asking these stupid questions?"  
  
Hmmm. She'd have to mention things that Gwin couldn't have known about.  
  
"Still got that rabbit's foot?" she asked slyly.  
  
Harper sprung forward. "How did you know that? Only my crew-mates know that!"  
  
Trance barrelled on, "And I know where you hid the library. A sun! I know because you took your inspiration from me. You told me so in the last few minutes you had the information. You told me in my own language. Now how could I know that if I wasn't part of the crew! It's me, Trance, your best friend!" Harper was so close to the bars, that she reached through and grabbed his hands.  
  
Suddenly a light bolted from in between their hands, throwing each of them back several meters. Trance landed expertly on her feet, having used her tail to stop her landing on the floor. Harper however, as clumsy as always, had landed upside down against the wall. But what he said next made her heart leap.  
  
"Trance?" He asked as he righted himself.  
  
Trance jumped and skipped all around her little cell for joy!  
  
"Yes it's me! It's me! You remember! Yay! You remember!"  
  
"Why wouldn't I remember you my hyper, little purple pixie?" He smiled quirkily.  
  
She stopped jumping up and down and got serious.  
  
"Because Gwin has been controlling your minds. How do you think I ended up in the Brig?"  
  
"I was wondering about that." He mentioned  
  
He paused, before realising that Trance was looking at him expectantly.  
  
"What? Oh! I suppose we better get you out of there." He said sheepishly  
  
"Yeah, I'd like that. But don't use the normal method. Gwin also wiped Andromeda's memory of me. Thank's to all that time she spent with you."  
  
Harper turned a deep shade of red, "I suppose I shouldn't have given her that tour of the AI core then."  
  
"It doesn't matter now. Just get me out of here!" she said urgently.  
  
Harper reached into his tool belt and took out a screw-driver, prying open the panel, "I'll just blind Andromeda's sensors...and then I'll swap this wire, and....."  
  
The bars lifted away.  
  
".....Hey presto!"  
  
Trance walked out and hugged Harper fiercely. He was taken aback at first but after the initial shock, he returned the hug.  
  
"Thanks Harper. I knew you'd come through for me. Now let's go kick some Gwin ass!" 


	12. Chapter Twelve

Well here we go, last chapter. I'll squeeze as much as I can out of my head.  
  
Funny thing happened to me when I was in work today. A bird flew into the restaurant I work in, flew around a bit and pooped on me. Not very funny at the time. But it is now. Really, I'm laughing (through the tears...) oh well.  
  
Enjoy! Oh, and I don't own Andromeda.  
  
CHAPTER TWELVE.  
  
"Check where Gwin is at the moment, Harper." Trance looked over her shoulder, checking no-one was following them as they sneaked along the corridors.  
  
Harper checked his sniffer. He frowned, "Well I can't find her specifically, but I am getting some strange readings from Command."  
  
"That'll be her." Damn it, thought Trance. She had been hoping she could corner Gwin in an empty room somewhere. It looked like she'd have to do something she had only ever done once before in her life. Successfully that is.  
  
They climbed up one more ladder, till they were standing only a few metres from command.  
  
Trance turned to Harper, "Right, I need you to go and act like nothing has happened."  
  
"Is that all?" Harper asked, slightly mystified.  
  
"Yes." Trance replied.  
  
"Well, okay then. You do what you have to do." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek then turned round and walked into Command.  
  
Trance touched her cheek tenderly, then realised she didn't have time to waste.  
  
She closed her eyes, concentrated, then put her arms out in front of her. Slowly she raised her palms so that they faced forward. Her head started to hurt, she was concentrating so much, but she moved pat the pain, concentrated even harder.  
  
"Stop." She whispered.  
  
She found the courage to open her eyes. Desperately hoping it had worked, she walked through the open door of Command.  
  
"Yay me!"  
  
Trance had successfully stopped time. None of her crewmates moved a muscle. Harper was frozen mid chat with Rommie. Beka and Dylan were frozen looking at a Flexi and Tyr was frozen, leaning on a wall. As usual.  
  
"You didn't seriously think that would work on me did you?" Gwin said from behind her.  
  
Trance turned round slowly to face her. "I knew it wouldn't work you. You're like me."  
  
Gwin put her hands on her hips and glared at Trance, "Why did you have to go ruin everything?" she sneered.  
  
"Because you stole my friends!"  
  
"NO! They're MY friends now!" Gwin screamed, "I HATE YOU!". She pulled a gun from her pocket and pointed it with a shaking hand at Trance.  
  
Fear coursed through Trance's vains, but she was determined not to let it show on her face.  
  
"You don't want to do that!"  
  
Gwin burst into laughter, "Why don't I?"  
  
"Because you can be better than this. You'll make your own friends in time, but give back mine. They aren't toys for you to play with."  
  
"I don't want anybody else. I want your friends!" And without warning she leaped through the air towards Trance.  
  
But Trance was quicker. Before Gwin reached her, Trance whipped her tail round and wrapped it round Gwin's neck.  
  
Both of them fell to the floor, but Trance squeezed tighter.  
  
Gwin clawed desperately at Trance's tail, but she squeezed and squeezed every last breath out of her.  
  
Gwin stopped clawing and her hands fell limply to the floor. Trance unwrapped her tail and sat back on her legs. She felt awful, but her job wasn't finished yet. Gwin would only be dead for a couple of hours. She had to get rid her and get the Andromeda a far away as possible.  
  
She never wanted to run into Gwin ever again.  
  
She lifted Gwin up underneath her armpits and dragged her out of Command. Finding the nearest escape pod, she chucked Gwin in and launched it on a trajectory towards her home planet.  
  
She pushed one last button and watched the pod float into space.  
  
When she reached Command, her crew-mates were looking befuddeled. And groggy.  
  
Beka saw her come in and walked slowly over to her. She paused for a second.  
  
"Did something happen Trance? I can't remember the last few hours, and I don't like that."  
  
"Oh, not much happened, you were all just being controlled by Gwin for a while. But I sorted it out. Nothing to worry about." She chirped, walking over to where Harper was working behind a panel.  
  
"Just one more connection..." he muttered.  
  
"Trance!" exclaimed Andromeda.  
  
"... and there it is!" he finished, tilting his head up to see Trance and giving a lop-sided smile. She smiled back down at him.  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
"It wasn't that hard to do. All the files were still there. She just bypassed them. Amature!" he joked.  
  
"Not just that. Thanks for finally believing me." She ruffled his hair and he shook her off in annoyance.  
  
Dylan stared at her from the other side of the room, confused, "So what happened to Gwin?"  
  
Ugh thought Trance. "I'll tell you later. But how about we get as far away from here as possible?" 


End file.
